Pre-sealed intravenous catheter with needle

ABSTRACT

The Pre-sealed intravenous (IV) needle is designed to provide easy Intravenous access for the health care professional. It is intended for use in hospitals, nursing facilities, ambulances and any area where IV access is necessary. It provides a new approach to IV access in that it allows IVs to be started without permitting any bleeding from the site. This would also reduce the chances of infection as the system is sterile and sealed.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

[0001] Intravenous needles have been in use for many years and are anecessary part of healthcare. In the aggressive treatment of certaindiseases, IV therapy is irreplaceable, allowing the medication to godirectly into the bloodstream and to act much quicker than medicationsby mouth.

[0002] Many patients are on medications such as Coumadin, Heparin,Plavix or Aspirin. These are considered blood thinners and as a result,when IVs are started in the traditional way considerable bleeding canoccur. Even patients who are not on blood thinners have some amount ofbleeding. The sight of blood to the patient is sometimes traumatic. Thiscan cause the patient to refuse more than one try at starting the IV.Originally, with the unsealed needles, the healthcare worker would haveto apply pressure to the IV site, while reaching for and screwing on thegel cap. Mishaps occur when this is done, like the catheter beingdislodged while the healthcare worker is reaching for the gel cap. Onthe whole the old method is quite clumsy. All of this would beeliminated as the gel cap forms a unit with the section of the apparatuswhich is left in the vein.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

[0003] The Pre-Sealed IV needle will enable safe, effective, andinfection-free intravenous access without the bleeding previouslyassociated with this procedure. It will almost be a “one-step” processwhere the needle encased in the catheter is introduced into the vein.The needle is then retracted, after the flash of blood is seen atSection 2 a in FIGS.(1, 2 and 4,) leaving the catheter (complete withgel cap, in the vein). This eliminates the usual bleeding associatedwith the starting of IVs.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0004]FIG. 1 shows left and exterior of the apparatus, which isessentially FIGS. 2 and 3, prior to retraction of the needle. FIG. 2shows left and exterior of the apparatus, after the needle is retracted.FIG. 3 shows left and exterior of the section which remains afterretraction, this part includes the catheter which remains in thepatient's vein. FIG. 4 shows left and exterior view of apparatus whichcan accommodate a needle-less connection. The complete Intravenousdevice will consist of a catheter with attached gel cap(1). Distal tothis is another section (2) which consists of protruding needle andplastic barrel. The needle runs through the catheter, and IV access isobtained. The needle is pulled out of the catheter and retracted intothe barrel. Section 2 is discarded after retraction of the needle

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0005] There are a number of intravenous needles available on the markettoday and healthcare has always had a challenge to keep patientsinfection-free. Whenever there is bleeding there exists the risk ofinfection to the patient as well as to the health care worker. With theadvent of many diseases such as aids and hepatitis, added care is neededin the handling of blood. This pre-sealed device would be the idealanswer to this problem since from the time of insertion, it is a closedsystem. This lessens to the point of almost nullifying it, thepossibility of infection or contamination due to germs entering thepatient's blood stream through the access site and also lessens thepossibility of the health-care worker being exposed to contaminatedblood. This method is also clean because no bleeding occurs as in thetraditional method. In this way it saves time spent on cleaning. Needleswould be available in the traditional sizes, 20, 22 and so on.

[0006] There is a variation on this needle which shows the needle withan additional tubing (FIG. 4) this tubing can accommodate a needle-lessattachment at its distal end. This is an important variation as manyambulances and certain healthcare facilities use needle-less syringes.This needle-less attachment heretofore mentioned is interchangeable witha cap that can accommodate a needle. In this way, the IV becomes duallyaccessible.

1. What I claim as my invention is the intravenous device comprised ofcatheter and gel cap conjoined and not detachable; and also includingretractable IV needle attached to retracting barrel and its enclosures.Said needle running through gel cap and catheter. The aforementioneddevice is intended for infusion of medication and fluids.